‘Godzilla: King Of The Monsters’ Movie Review: An Excitingly Drab Monsterfest

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a movie that takes risks, and risks have unexpected rewards. In the case of this movie, it is a hit and miss. Director Michael Dougherty certainly paid attention to the fans and their complaints following the success of 2014’s Godzilla.

Not only did Dougherty pay attention to the desires of the fanbase, but he took their clamorings and ran with it. So much that the movie feels half baked and lacking certain elements.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead.

Epic Failure In Story-Telling and Dialogue

This will feel like a nitpick to hardcore Godzilla fans who just want to see some kaiju vs. kaiju action in all its glory, but Godzilla: King of the Monsters is just a monsterfest and nothing more. The plot of this movie is as convoluted as the critically maligned Transformers franchise before its successful reboot with 2018’s Bumblebee.

Daniel McFadden/Warner Bros.

The worst part about this movie is almost a draw between the storytelling and the human characters but the humans just about edge this one. Like 2014’s Godzilla, the humans in this story play little to no part of real importance to further the narrative. If you thought Dr. Ishiro Serizawa’s (Ken Watanabe) statement in the previous movie, “Let them fight,” was a bit of overkill, wait ’til you hear the cringy dialogue in King of the Monsters.

Much of the narrative in the movie is formed from rationalizations that feel void of any real thought, consideration or merely common sense. Most of the characters are scientists and military higher-ups, and when they make dumb decisions, the audience is left scratching their heads at their lack of intelligence.

Daniel McFadden/Warner Bros.

Furthermore, we have to bear the cringe-worthy dialogue. There is literally a scene when Dr. Stanton (Ben Whitmore) suggests they invite Godzilla in for a beer. What’s even more shocking is that the studio and crew had four years to work on this and this is what we get—a tale of caution perhaps to the audience for the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Character Assassinations

There is not a single human character worth investing in with this movie. We’re introduced to the Russell family early on, and we’re told how the death of their son drives a wedge between the parents (Kyle Chandler and Vera Farmiga). Because of this, Emma Russell, played by Vera Farmiga, decides to release the Titans and restore balance to the world due to overpopulation and a lack of resources. Thanos anyone?

She has a line that goes, “Our world is changing. The mass extinction we feared… Has already begun. And we are the cause. We are the infection. But like all living organisms, the earth unleashed a fever to fight this infection: It’s original… and rightful rulers, the Titans.”

Daniel McFadden/Warner Bros.

If you don’t understand her true motivations, you’re not alone. Her son dies because of the Titans, yet she wants to release said Titans to wreak havoc, battle each other, and reduce the population so much so that life can prosper. To cap it all off, she backtracks on this in the third act of the movie, decides to play hero and stop the same Titans she helped release.

Her husband Mark Russell, played by Kyle Chandler, is a know-it-all, literally. We see him first as a wildlife photographer yet we’re meant to believe he also knows about nuclear warheads, military strategies, Titans, and even how warships operate. He does literally everything in this movie, like an overpowered Superman on steroids. No doubt a ploy by the lazy writers to cover plot holes.

Then there’s Millie Bobby Brown in the case of how not to use a talented actress. The child of Mark and Emma Russell spends the most parts of the movie screaming and crying and doing not much of anything else. She does steal the orca (a device used to alter the behavior of the Titans) from what is meant to be a heavily guarded bunker and uses it just to put herself in danger. Head smack.

Warner Bros.

And Bradley Whitford? If you thought the use of Millie Bobby Brown was torrid, Bradley Whitford’s character (Dr. Rick Stanton), will make you want to gouge your eyes out. His role is there for no reason other than for laughs, and his lines end up not being funny. When he’s on-screen, you’d most likely be rolling your eyes and asking for him to get off it, and this is Bradley Whitford we’re talking about here.

Other cast members are heavily underutilized such as O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton, Sally Hawkins (Shape of Water) and Thomas Middleditch (Wolf of Wall Street) among others.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Cinematography

If there is one saving grace for this Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it is the cinematography. If the dialogue and the story murder your interest from the onset, the cinematography does the opposite. From the shot of Ghidorah on top of the volcano to Mothra emerging from the waterfall as an already grown butterfly Titan and the face-off between Godzilla and Ghidorah in the city. The shots of these Titans are simply breathtaking and awe-inspiring.

Warner Bros.

The Titans get a massive A plus. The way they were designed, motives, and all are beyond anything ever seen before on the big screen. The three-headed Titan, Ghidora has believable ambitions, and it was amusing to explore how the three heads each had different personalities. Mothra, an ally of Godzilla is just magnificent and plays a huge role in assisting the King of Monsters when it matters. To put it bluntly, the Titans had more believable and interesting arcs than the humans, and this begs the question; Why not just take the humans out altogether?

Warner Bros.

And there is, of course, the main reason most went to see this movie—Titans squaring up. One of the major criticisms of the first was how scarce Godzilla and other Titans were shown so when it comes to Titans vs. Titans, we’re spoiled, to say the least. But this did have its downfall, having been exposed to so much of the Titans in the movie, the moments we see them face off against each other especially in the third act feels less unique than it should have been or maybe I’m just nitpicking.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters Overall Verdict

Warner Bros MonsterVerse has lofty ambitions with an enormous appeal and the ability to succeed. There is still hope yet for next year’s Godzilla vs. Kong but, changes have to be done on both the humans and the Titans.

We know the MonsterVerse is mean to be about the monsters, but why should we care about the world they’re destroying if the characters are one-note and hard to tell apart with regards to their personalities? If the writers have a hard time coming up with real motivations and making the audience care about humans, then wipe them out entirely. Have us focus on the world of the Titans.

The Titans, on the other hand, should be given more focus if we’re meant to believe that it is “their world, and we’re just living in it.”  We’ve had three of these movies, and for some reason, the humans keep taking center stage over the Titans in a world that is supposedly theirs.

Overall, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is daring but unadventurous, full of action yet unexciting. An over convoluted mess with no essence to it. Skip it if you can, but if you’re a hardcore Godzilla fan, the bland storytelling isn’t going to matter, you’d have crazy stupid fun with the Titans and their disappointing epic battles.